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6.06.2007

A little controversy

There's been a little feud brewing among some media circles this week, and our own Josh "Bag" Moon is involved. Here are the basics.

In a column that ran a few days ago, Moon takes takes a few shotsat Alabama coach Nick Saban.

On Sunday, the Huntsville Times' Alabama beat writer, Paul Gattis, gave Moon the business in a blog entry.

So what are we to make of this?

Knowing Josh the way I do, he's just having fun with it and basically seeing who takes the bait. I guess Paul did. I don't believe the media is out to get Saban. I'd know if that was the case. Saban makes things difficult on Alabama fans, though, with his awkward restrictions.

Case in point: I plan to write several Q-and-As and short little stories about Auburn football during the next few weeks. I talked with Sen'Derrick Marks just yesterday for one of these pieces, which will run soon.

What about our Alabama beat guy Tim Gayle? He can't counter. Alabama doesn't make its football players available during the summer. So Alabama fans who want balanced coverage in the Advertiser simply can't get it. Don't blame Gayle. Don't blame an Auburn bias. Blame Saban. It's his call.

Is it a big deal? Probably not. Saban has his methods and, for the most part, they have worked for him. Those restrictions cause angst among writers because we, as a group, struggle to keep things even. I want each team to have equal space. It's about protecting the print franchise more than anything. Newspapers aren't exactly thriving these days.

Then a coach comes along and makes equitable space allotment an impossibility. Should readers care? That's your call.

I found one piece of Paul's blog more interesting than the rest.

The writer who put forth that opinion speaks only for himself. He certainly doesn't speak for me and I'll even say he doesn't speak for any of the beat writers who cover Alabama more closely than any sports writers in the country and who, unlike the author in question, must cover Saban on a regular basis.

Of course Josh was speaking for himself. It was his column.

So people who aren't intimately involved with a subject can't write about it? I can't have an opinion about my San Diego Padres because I don't cover them? Because I'm not at the games?

Doesn't make sense to me.

I'll say that I like Paulie quite a bit personally, I read his stuff often and even was in a wedding with him not long ago. It's not a personal thing with me.